Ashbory Bass Fender,

J

JezzaBoyLukini

Sep 12, 2006
9
0
4,531
Cardiff, UK
#1
Hi,

I play in an acoustic trio and travel regularly for work so a Fender Ashbory (later DeArmond?) bass looks ideal for me.

Problem is, I have only ever seen one in the flesh and couldn't play it, and can't find much information. I would happily buy a copy if I could find one but they seem to be absolutely unique.

Anyone with any deeper knowledge of these, or this type?

It looks like Aguilar make strings but are these easily found? Do they break often? I would imagine not.

In the U.K. Money to spend!
 
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#2
I played one of these a bit, a long time ago. They are pretty rare, according to my internet searches in the past couple years.
As I understand it, they were only made fretless. It had a huge deep sound, but I found it pretty hard to play.
Is there some reason a kala or hadean uke bass wouldn't work for you? I've played the kala (hollowbody) and I think they are easier to adjust to.
 
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#3
I've had a DeArmond Ashbory since shortly after FMIC reintroduced them. I was also a Guild dealer '77-'88 when Guild originally introduced them in the '80s. The DeArmond version has more useful tuning machines and everything else is comparable to the Guild's.

The body shape and lack of ergonomics is the only problem I have. The 18" scale and big rubbery strings make playing tune a challenge exacerbated by try to hold the instrument. But it is fun and has a pseudo double bass sound that works for me. Having played around with various bass ukes, I think if I didn't have the Ashbory, I'd go for a Kala U bass now.

BTW I went through several versions of the Ashbory strings before finding Aquiala Thunder Guts. The silicone Ashbory strings had problems of spontaneously self destruction. The Thunder Guts have been on since August of 2015 and no problems.
 
#4
I have an '87 Guild Ashbory. It's been retrofitted with the later geared tuners. The original friction tuners were awful.* The original Guild strings had much better tone than the later DeArmond/Fender strings, but they all suffered premature failure. The D'Aquila strings are far better in that regard.

Perhaps you're not aware, but Ashbory basses were developed in the U.K., and there was another version available over there with a straight-sided body that wasn't imported over here, with, I believe, a slightly longer scale length. You might be able to find one of those.

*My partner's ex was a luthier at Guild in Westerly, Rhode Island, and she tells me the original run of those tuners had a burr on them that would cut into the strings. There was a period of time he'd bring boxes of them home and the whole family would spend the evening sanding off the burrs and repolishing them.

image.jpeg
 
#5
#6
JezzaBoyLukini said:
Hi,

I play in an acoustic trio and travel regularly for work so a Fender Ashbory (later DeArmond?) bass looks ideal for me.

Problem is, I have only ever seen one in the flesh and couldn't play it, and can't find much information. I would happily buy a copy if I could find one but they seem to be absolutely unique.

Anyone with any deeper knowledge of these, or this type?

It looks like Aguilar make strings but are these easily found? Do they break often? I would imagine not.

In the U.K. Money to spend!
Click to expand...

I have one, and they're pretty terrible. Ergonomically bad, and the strings are ridiculously fragile.

Look for the solid body version of the Kala Ubass. They're essentially the same idea as the Ashbory but with 20+ years of design improvements. Available fretted, fretless and 5.
 
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#7
I gig the Ashbory. Love it. I’ve been gigging them since the Guild was introduced. The Kala seems to be your choice these days.

Some strings have limited notes available on the actual length of the string. It’s okay on the short short Kala fretboard. I’ve tried them all and some are more musical and articulate than others. Some like the Silver Rumblers are quite loud.

If you find a Guild/Dearmond/Fender Ashbory the spontaneous G string breaking issue is the fault of the OEM gig bag. Using a substitute and I’ve gone years gigging three times a week with no breakage.
 
#9
lz4005 said:
. . . and the strings are ridiculously fragile.
Click to expand...

The Aquila strings are a huge improvement over the original silicone strings. They're sturdy. The tone is a bit different, but good. The original Guild silicone strings sounded great, better than the Fenders, but both were prone to developing a weird spiral failure. The Aquila strings also stay in tune better. That, and installing the geared tuners, made a huge difference in the playability of mine.

OP: There is an Ashbory Club thread that you might enjoy.

Ashbory (Guild/DeArmond/Fender) Club
 
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